by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Systems & Apps
In the wedding industry, most of our businesses are small, and, therefore, we don’t have the financial or time resources to design and create a customer management system built specifically around our needs – and for those that do have the resources, please know that it is almost always the wrong way to go.
This leaves most of us in the wedding industry limited to the systems that already exist, and thus limited to their current and future planned functionality. This doesn’t mean we are screwed – it just means we will be compromising. Therefore, our goal should be to find a system with the least amount of compromises, and where we do have to compromise, we have a livable workaround.
Which leads me to the first, and most important, piece of advice that I can give when you are investigating business systems for your wedding industry business, followed by some more advice:
- Write down your needs and wants: This can take some time, but the way to get the best system for you is to know exactly what you need, and want, the system to do for your business. Document each of your business processes and determine their importance level. By understanding all of the processes that you want the system to manage, and the importance of each to you and your business, you can best determine which system will require the least compromise.
- Take future promised functionality with a grain of salt: It is always important to know what future functionality is planned for a system, and when it is scheduled to be added. Yet, I can almost guarantee you that the functionality will not be exactly as promised, and will be delivered later than expected. It is just the way of the software world, especially in the price range in which we are shopping.
- Don’t limit your choices to just those in your category or industry: For my wedding officiating business, Ceremonies by Bethel, I use ShootQ, because although it was developed specifically for photographers and most of their users are photographers, I found it required the least compromises for the officiant business that I wanted to build. On the other hand, my needs are different as a business coach, so I use 17hats for that business.
- Plan to be in the System for the Long Term: Thinking you are going to try a system for a year and will just switch if you don’t like it isn’t the best approach, because each system will require a decent amount time to setup and learn. And, as you use it, you will be entering data that may not easily migrate from one system to another, and therefore will need to be entered fresh into the new system.
- In almost every scenario, couples or clients come first: What I mean by this is, a system that makes your business run smoother for you, but makes doing business with you harder for potential and current couples, is probably (likely!) not the one you want.
- And finally, get demos and ask lots of questions: Once you have a few systems in mind, request a demo for each, and ask questions to verify that the functionality you need or want (from above) is part of the system. And, if the person giving the demo doesn’t have the answer, make sure they get back to you with a definitive answer before you commit.
I hope that this helps, and, of course, if you would like one-on-one assistance in evaluating wedding industry business systems, or mapping your customer journey and determining your needs for a software package, please feel free to contact me.
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Systems & Apps
We are in the very personal business of weddings. So, yes, we do what we do because we love it, or at least love it most days. Yet, we still are running businesses, and therefore, we need to implement a set of processes that are standard for each couple we work with. Why, you might ask, can’t we work with each and every couple in a different way? The simple answer is that, even if we have only a handful of couples each year, developing a standard set of processes allows us to:
1) relate to each couple how we will work together;
2) deliver on what we told the couple, thus meeting or exceeding their expectations; and
3) control time and costs per couple, allowing us to know that the price we charge is going to make us the profit we expect.
So, how do we make our standard processes personal? The main way is to use automated communication only when necessary, or when there is absolutely no need for personalization (eg. automated invoice reminders). For each business and business model, the amount of automation will vary, for sure. Instead, use a standard or edited workflow to remind you of when you need to send a specific email or any other type of standard communication, keeping you on schedule without it being automated. And, for those emails or other communications, use a templated or already-prepared script to not only get you started, but also to save time, while still having the ability to add in something personal and specific to that couple. For example, I always send my thank you email the day after the wedding, and although I have an already prepared template email, since so much of what I’m going to tell that couple is the same or close to the same for every couple, I always add in a few personal touches or make appropriate edits. For instance, a mention of something special during their ceremony, a piece of follow-up information specific to that couple, something about their specific honeymoon destination, etc. Another good tip is that when you create your process and its standard timeframes, build extra time into each step to make sure you accommodate a couple being late on a specific stage/step, while not making your job harder. It won’t solve all issues, but it will mitigate most.
The same thinking applies to making the personal processes standard. Do you want to know more about their relationship or family situation or the logistics around their wedding, like who is in the process or what music they want played? Use a questionnaire which allows them to answer in a personal way and on their own convenient time, yet you make sure the questionnaire is sent out based on specific timing within your workflow. Do you need to always have a final pre-wedding phone call with the couple because each wedding is so different, that – what you discuss, and the feedback you need – can’t be managed via e-mail? Then make sure your workflow has you schedule the call well in advance, have a reminder e-mail go out a few days before the call, and have a basic script that you go from so that you make sure that you don’t miss anything. And don’t forget that by reading reviews from your couples, and asking for feedback from other vendors, you can determine where within your process personalization is more, or less, important.
The idea is to have very defined business processes, while still allowing for the personal touch to be added to as many pieces as needed or wanted. Obviously, if you work with 200 couples per year, you will likely have fewer steps within the process that are personal vs. if you work with 25 couples per year, but the thinking when developing or revising your processes should be the same, to meet or exceed the expectations of your couples in all parts of your process.
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Goal Setting
At a recent wedding industry show, I was talking to a someone who stopped by the Elevate by Bethel booth with some questions related to figuring out if she was taking her business in the right direction. She told me that she was a couple of years in, had made quite an investment, and was booking quite a few weddings, yet, she wasn’t sure if the direction she was taking was the right one and if it would produce the business she wanted. I asked her a bit more about what she did, and a few other questions to get a better understanding of her business, and then I asked the following question… “do you have a business plan?”
From a face that said she probably knew better, she answered, “no, I don’t have a business plan.”
Unfortunately, this is nothing surprising, since having talked with wedding business owners from all categories, I find that quite a few don’t have business plans, with many saying they were thinking about writing one or had started writing one, but never completed it. And, yes, I know that there are plenty of successful businesses in the wedding industry that have never had formal business plans, or even any business plan at all.
So why do I find a business plan so important?
To me, a business plan is the long-distance roadmap for your business, because it covers where you expect your business to be in a certain number of years, milestones along the way, and how you plan to get there. At a high-level, your wedding industry business plan should include the concept of your business, the long-term goals for it, and an overview of the plan that will make the long-term goals a reality – this is the vision and research stage that should get you hyped. However, your business plan should also include less exciting details that will give you an idea of why your business will be successful and when. This includes budgets, marketing, and financial projections, that will all give you an idea of not only will you reach the success you are seeking, but when you should reach it. In addition, a long-term business plan gives you the ability to compare the current reality to what you expected and thus make necessary changes along the way. It’s never a document you are really done with, I don’t think.
Plus, to be honest, a HUGE thing for me in creating a simple business plan initially, and revising it periodically, is just the benefit gained from putting my thoughts down on paper, of what I want the business to be, what makes me different, and what is my “why.”
I have to admit, sometimes a get a little preachy when it comes to making sure you have a business plan, but I truly believe in them, and truly believe it is never too late to create one (or to revise that really old one). If you are looking for some help, please feel free to reach out, since I can provide you everything from my “Nice and Simple Business Plan” template, as well as with one-on-one assistance in creating or revising your business plan.
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Goal Setting, Systems & Apps
I will admit, I have watched more than my share of online seminars, and been through more than a few different business planner/organizer systems trying to get myself, and my businesses, more organized and more efficient. Any other planner addicts out there?? And don’t get me wrong, there have been systems that have helped quite a bit and there are a few that I recommend if you really need some help getting your business organized. However, what I also found was that there was point at which I realized it wasn’t all an issue of not being organized… I was just trying to fit too much into too few hours each day. This is a realization for business owners that creates some important questions that I thought I would cover briefly.
How can I know if it is inefficiency or being overworked? Well, since the level of efficiency each person can achieve and level of work that they can – or want to – handle can be different, there is no golden formula or rule. The best way I find to evaluate it is to map out how you are using your time in your business over a 2 to 3 week period, making sure that the evaluation period includes both busy days and not so busy days. From that time-mapping, you can figure out how much time you spend on tasks, and look at each task to determine if you are doing it efficiently or if there is just too much of it.
What happens if I figure out that I am less organized/efficient in my business than I would like to be? As I mentioned above, there are quite a few systems out there to help you get more organized and efficient. And the great thing about there being so many options is that there is most likely going to be a system that fits your style. Yes, different people have different organization styles, so it is key to evaluate a few systems and determine which one fits you and your business best. I could go on and on about that (digital vs paper vs both, with goals, tasks only, etc) – and I often do…
What happens if I figure out that I have more work than time? The quick answer: figure out how to have less work. And the longer answer, start to break down the work that you do and determine if there are pieces you have as part of your business process that you don’t need to do, pieces that you can outsource, or core ways that you can change how you do business to reduce the amount of work.
I hope this blog post helps a little bit, but we know that when it comes to figuring out inefficiency vs. over working in our businesses, there are no easy ways to determine it, or easy answers once you figure it out. Knowing the struggle first-hand and having evaluated and investigated options for my businesses, please let me know if I can be of any help as you work through it in your own business. Happy to help you to figure it out for yourself!
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Customer Journey, Ideal Client
Having had a few lively discussions recently about the reality of ideal clients – or ideal couples as we call them in the wedding industry – I figured it would be good to write about what I consider the big fact and the big fiction of ideal couples. In my past blog posts, you can read in more detail about the concept of the ideal couple and why they are so important to most of us in the wedding industry, but today, let us focus on some reality.
Which leads me to first state the big fact: Ideal couples are very, very important to the success of any solopreneur or small business owner in the wedding industry who started their business based on pursuing their passion. The important distinction is whether you are building a business where success is based purely on running a business that makes money vs. building a business where success is based on getting to practice your passion while still making a living. If you started your business just to make money, then focusing on the biggest market segment, or multiple market segments, is more important. But in the case of a passion-based business, by creating a certain customer journey, marketing with a certain message, and pricing at a certain level, you are focusing on getting couples whose experience with you and your experience with them matches or exceeds expectations. For a passion-based business, this leads to a more satisfied couple, which leads to a better review, which leads to more referrals of ideal couples, which leads to more satisfied couples, etc… and all this leads to a happier business owner.
Now, the Big Myth: If you create a certain customer journey, market with a certain message, and price at a certain level, all your couples will be ideal. Well, sorry to say, but no matter how hard you try, and no matter how many couples you turn away, not all your couples will be ideal. There will be times when a couple engaging with you gets the impression that they want what you are offering and you get the impression that they are your ideal couple – and yet, we all know that impressions and reality don’t always match, and what you thought was an ideal couple can turn out not to be. Also, some couples may not be ideal but they are somewhat close, they want to book you, and you need the booking, so you take it. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, I promise! The key thing, as far as I’m concerned, to aim for is as many ideal couples as possible, and if everything in your business is set up to attract your ideal couple, then even when not ideal, they should still be reasonably close.
I know there are some that will still argue that any couple that wants to pay you is ideal, and to those I say, if what you do is your passion, I hope you are not in this for the long term, as that passion is likely not sustainable working with anyone and everyone, or, I hope that you are just in it for the money (which is fine too, but is a different business driver than passion).
by Bethel Nathan | Advice, Business Management, Business Systems, Financial Management, Goal Setting
I have to admit, I should have written this post a few months ago, but still feel that it needs to be said now rather than waiting until next year. You may look at the title and be like “what, what, what??? How can I even think about my business goal setting and planning for next year during the main part of the wedding season this year?” Well, here is my reasoning why you should not only be thinking about it, but actually doing it. For most small businesses out there, they are about two-thirds through their business-getting year, which means they still have one-third of a year left to get more business. However, for most of us in the wedding industry, we already have almost all of our business for 2017 booked. Yes, we can still get those “last-minute” requests, but, let’s be honest, by this time in the year, we have a pretty good idea of the answer to the question, “how did my business do in 2017?”
Thus, knowing how this year is going to turn out, and knowing that the booking cycle for next year has definitely already begun, we should be writing our SMART business goals for 2018 and creating plans to achieve them right now, if we haven’t already done so. To wait until November or December, when things calm down, causes the plans we end up implementing to be more reactive than proactive. So, if you still need to write your business goals and supporting plans for 2018, my recommendation is to set a few hours a week aside, over the next few weeks, to write and begin implementing them, and then add it to your calendar to start 2019 goal setting earlier in 2018 (for example, start working on it in the beginning of May). If you are real-time, or even periodically, tracking your year-over-year inquiries, bookings, and cancellations numbers, you should have no problem creating business goals for the next year when you are only partway through the current year.
And, by having your plans for next year working mid-year this year, you also give yourself time to evaluate your progress and adjust the plans as necessary. The more time you give yourself, and the smoother you make the planning and implementation, the less stress and more success you will achieve. Of course, if I can help in any way with your goal setting and planning, please contact me at bethel@elevatebybethel.com.
